THE OMNIPOTENCE OF GOD

060.010.010Torrey: p30, T:I, P:1POINT 10: God can
do all things. Nothing is too hard for him. All things are possible with Him.
God is omnipotent, all-powerful.

Job
42:2I know that you can
do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.

Genesis
18:14Is anything too hard
for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah
will have a son.

Matthew
19:26Jesus looked at them
and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

060.010.012Torrey: p31, T:IPOINT 12: All nature
is absolutely subject to God's will and word.

Genesis
1:3And God said, "Let
there be light," and there was light.

Psalms
33:6-9[6] By the word
of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
[7] He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses.
[8] Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere
him. [9] For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.

Psalms
107:25-29[25] For he spoke
and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves. [26] They mounted up to
the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted
away. [27] They reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wits'
end. [28] Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them
out of their distress. [29] He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of
the sea were hushed.

Nahum
1:3-6[3] The LORD is slow
to anger and great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished.
His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet.
[4] He rebukes the sea and dries it up; he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan
and Carmel wither and the blossoms of Lebanon fade. [5] The mountains quake
before him and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, the
world and all who live in it. [6] Who can withstand his indignation? Who can
endure his fierce anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; the rocks are shattered
before him.

Jonah
1:4, 11-13, 15[4] Then
the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the
ship threatened to break up. [11] The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So
they asked him, "What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for
us?" [12] "Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied,
"and it will become calm. ... " [13] Instead, the men did their best
to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.
[15] Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.

060.010.012Torrey: noPOINT 12: Life and
death are subject to God's will and word.

John
5:28-29[28] "Do not
be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will
hear his voice [29] and come out -- those who have done good will rise to live,
and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.

Matthew
28:52-53[52] The tombs
broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.
[53] They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into
the holy city and appeared to many people.

1
Kings 20:1, 4-6[1] In
those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah
son of Amoz went to him and said, "This is what the LORD says: Put your
house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover." [4]
Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: [5]
"Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 'This is what the
LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen
your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the
temple of the LORD. [6] I will add fifteen years to your life. ...'"

060.010.012aTorrey: noPOINT 12a: Satan
does not have unrestrained power of death.

Many people erroneously think that Satan
can cause death directly, i.e., that Satan can kill people. There is no basis
for this in the Bible. Satan can tempt people into situations the natural consequences
of which normally lead to death, e.g., drug addiction or showing off by driving
recklessly. Although God may forgive the eternal consequences
of sin, i.e., damnation, He does not prevent the natural
consequences of either sin or foolishness. For example, if a thief is sentenced
to prison and later repents of his sin, God does not automatically arrange for
him to be released from prison.

If Satan had the power to kill at his sole
discretion, he would simply kill every person who lives in righteousness.

060.010.014Torrey: p31, T:IPOINT 14: All men
are absolutely subject to His will and work.

James
4:12-15[12] There is only
one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you --
who are you to judge your neighbor? [13] Now listen, you who say, "Today
or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business
and make money." [14] Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.
What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
[15] Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live
and do this or that."

Happy is the man who voluntarily subjects
himself to God's will and word.

060.010.016Torrey: p31, T:IPOINT 16: Angels
are subject to God's will and word.

Hebrews
1:13-14[13] To which of
the angels did God ever say, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet" ? [14] Are not all angels ministering spirits
sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

060.010.018Torrey: p31, T:IPOINT 18: Satan
is absolutely subject to God's will and word.

Job
1:12The LORD said to Satan,
"Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the
man himself do not lay a finger."

Job
2:6The LORD said to Satan,
"Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life."

Luke
22:31-32[31] Simon, Simon,
Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.

Revelation
20:1-3[1] And I saw an
angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in
his hand a great chain. [2] He seized the dragon, that ancient
serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
[3] He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep
him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended.
After that, he must be set free for a short time.

The final sentence of Revelation
20:3, New American Bible, reads After
that the dragon is to be released for a short time. (This
translation is mentioned because it shows that there is no requirement
that God set him free.)

060.020.010Torrey: p31, T:IITopic 20: The
exercise of God's omnipotence limited by His will.

060.020.010Torrey: p31, T:II, P:2POINT 10: The exercise
of God's omnipotence is limited by His own wise and holy and loving will. God
can do anything, but will do only what infinite wisdom and holiness and love
dictate.

=== DISCUSSION ===

QUESTION: Why doesn't God simply destroy
Satan?

ANSWER: It would not be wise to destroy him
yet. The only way God, saved men, and the angels can live in true peace and
harmony is if those who would ultimately reject God are not present. Adam and
Eve were given Paradise with no effort or travail on their part. Because they
did not have to suffer for it and had nothing to compare to, they did not appreciate
the magnificence of God's gift.

God allows Satan to test each of us, for
two reasons: (a) so God can see, in full view of others, who is truly faithful
to Him, and (b) so those who see God condemn particular souls know that the
condemnation is just. How could any fair, rational being worship God if He simply
created souls and immediately judged them, saying "This huge group on my
left is condemned for eternity. I know they haven't done anything wrong, but
I'm omniscient. I know that if I tested them they would fail. I'm going to take
a short-cut and not bother to test them."

By his malevolence, Satan is working out
part of God's benevolent plans.

An argument commonly raised by non-believers
is "If God is all-powerful, can He create a rock so big He can't lift it?"

The question really involves a logical paradox.
It falls into the same category as "an irresistible force meeting an immovable
object". If a force is truly irresistible, it can move any
object. Conversely, if an object is truly immovable, it can resist any
force.

These arguments really involve word games
and overly-legalistic logical games. They do not prove that God is not
omnipotent. They prove that Man has an incomplete or inaccurate understanding
of this aspect of God's nature. They simply prove what everyone already knows
- that human language is not perfect and is not capable of fully describing
God's divine nature.

060.042.000Torrey: noTopic 42: The
Biblical concept of "omnipotence" must be different from the way we
interpret "omnipotence".

The following is a synopsis of an argument
in Atheism: The Case Against God by George H. Smith. Smith claims
it is a proof that an omnipotent god cannot exist. However, that is only one
possible conclusion. An alternative conclusion that is equally valid (without
considering other evidence) is that, as applied to God, our interpretation
of the term "omnipotent" is not correct.

1. Something that does not
exist has no characteristics.

2. If something exists (we'll call it
"X") but has absolutely no characteristics, it is not possible
by any means to distinguish this X from something that does not exist.

3. If X exists without characteristics,
and therefore can not be distinguished from things that do not exist, for
all practical purposes X might as well not exist, since even the
mere fact of its existence cannot be determined by any means.

4. If something exists and has characteristics
(we'll call it "Y"), Y must act in conformity with
its characteristics.

5. Characteristics constitute limitations
on what Y can do.

6. If a god exists, it has characteristics.
Otherwise, as indicated in item 3, for all practical purposes it might as
well not exist.

7. If a god exists and has characteristics,
those characteristics constitute limitations on what that god can do.

8. A god that is limited in what it can
do is not "all powerful", not "omnipotent", even
if those limitations are created solely by the god's characteristics.

The word "omnipotent" is usually
interpreted as meaning "able to do anything whatsoever". Funk
and Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary, 1980, defines "omnipotent"
as "Almighty; not limited in authority or power."

The God of the Bible has many characteristics,
some detailed in this book, e.g.: (1) He is eternal; (2) He is immortal; (3)
He is triune, i.e, three persons in one God; (4) He hates sin so much that He
must take out His anger over sin on something; (5)
He loves righteousness; (6) He gets jealous; (7) He gets angry; (8) He is merciful;
(9) He feels compassion; (10) He is omniscient.

Obviously, Smith's argument proves that the
"able to do anything" concept is self-contradictory; it falls in the
same class as the "irresistible force meets immovable object."

However, Smith's argument does not prove
that God is not omnipotent. It merely proves that human languages do not
contain words that correctly describe this supernatural characteristic of God.